Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS (SANCTIONS-SIERRA LEONE) REGULATIONS 1997 NO.393

Statutory Rules 1997 No. 393

Issued by the authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Charter of the United Nations Act 1945

Charter of the United Nations (Sanctions-Sierra Leone) Regulations

Section 6 of the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 ("the Act") provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for and in relation to giving effect to decisions that:

(a)        the Security Council has made under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations: and

(b)       Article 25 of the Charter requires Australia to carry out:

in so far as those instructions require Australia to apply measures not involving the use of armed force.

The United Nations Security Council decided in Resolution 1132 (1997) to impose sanctions against the military junta in Sierra Leone which displaced the democratically-elected government on 25 May 1997. The resolution requires states to take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of members of the military junta and adult members of their families, and to prevent the sale or supply to Sierra Leone by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of petroleum and petroleum products and arms and related materiel of all types.

The purpose of the proposed Regulations is to implement those parts of the sanctions against Sierra Leone which could not be implemented under other legislation. The Regulations impose the following sanctions against Sierra Leone: a prohibition on the supply of petroleum and petroleum products; and a prohibition on the supply of arms and related materiel.